Fwd: Ajja: What is Enlightenment interview

[Guest guest]

Janmasiddha, janmasiddhi wrote:

Ajja: Yes. Only when there is birth can there be death. Where is birth

in this? We think: "I am this body. All the sense objects that are

related to the body are mine." With such a constricted feeling, when a

person is involved in action, and is experiencing the joys and sorrows

that are resulting from such action, again and again he will take

birth in this world. So his lives continue according to his actions.

This is the secret of birth, life and death. But when the individual

self is freed from the bondage of action, and also the bondage of this

body, then he becomes one with the supreme Self, which is his original

nature. He becomes the supreme Self itself. When the individual,

through contemplation of the question "Who am I?" becomes free from

karma, he evolves, he becomes the self-luminous Supreme. That itself

is Self. That itself is bliss. That itself is satya, ultimate reality.

That itself is Life. That itself is Self-realization.

So Self-realization is for the good of the whole. It brings

auspiciousness and good to the whole universe. That is the objective

of human life. When we understand the secret of this, we will really

understand the relationship between the individual soul, the supreme

Soul and the universe. The individual is a part of the cosmos. This

body, this "I," is nothing but a microcosm of that macrocosmic

universe. When we understand the micro level, we are bound to

understand the macro universe. Anyone who seeks here is bound to reach

there, because this individuality is a part of That. And also, it

contains everything. All the secrets of That, this also contains.

Through the study of the individual—or even the atom—the basis of the

whole universe can be understood.

How is this freedom realized? Through action alone does realization

come. That is jnana, that is freedom, that is moksha [liberation]. We

must understand how, by doing action, we can reach that state. What

kind of action will help us to become liberated? Chanting the name of

God, contemplation, surrender, truth, nonviolence, detached action.

One who, during his lifetime, can translate the knowledge of the Self

into action, that one deserves to realize that supreme blissful state.

Not only that, he becomes bliss itself. "Who am I? What is the secret

of my life, my birth?" Understanding this, realizing this through his

search, even when he is engaged in actions and duties, he attains his

original nature, which is bliss. So it is through action that he

becomes transformed.

--- End forwarded message ---